So I've been working out for some time now, and haven't been really seeing the results I'd like. Rather than continue to waste time, I'm thinking of enlisting the help of a personal trainer to spend a few weeks with to help me get the results I want.

I'm in the Suffolk county area in NY. Anybody have any personal trainers they recommend?

I tried searching around a bit, but wasn't able to find anyone within reasonable distance within a decent price range lol.

i can get my ass to the gym lol, thas not the problem..
its about getting a personal trainer who can help me get the results i want while understanding my body type and what will be the best way for me to get results.

i can get my ass to the gym lol, thas not the problem..
its about getting a personal trainer who can help me get the results i want while understanding my body type and what will be the best way for me to get results.

You can get the results you need on your own without forking out lots of cash for stuff you probably already know or can easily find out. Just my opinion.
What results are you trying to get to ?

I can't help you as far as price and distance go, but having had one for years now, as well as having sought one for the second city in which I spend a good amount of time, I can offer some insights.

Some basics:

$90 per 1 to 1.5 hour session. Neither of us watches the clock and mostly they are about an hour, but some stretch over an hour.

Workouts occur in his private facility, on the streets of DC, or my home gym. When I'm out of town, they occur at a private gym for trainers and clients only.

My trainer has a master's degree in kinesiology and was a college gymnast. He is certified by the NASM and NETA. (I don't know if those two groups' certifications are the same as being board certified as a doctor or passing the bar or being a CPA/CMA, but it's something to look for at least.) He belongs to several associations for personal trainers.

My primary trainer coordinates with the ones I use when I'm out of town for longer periods on business. He provides them with a set of things he wants them to do with me.

I don't know how much any trainer needs to have quite the same extent of training and certification as mine does, but that he has them does shows that he's committed to his profession and isn't just some fly by night fellow who is trying to make a buck because he was college athlete or whatever.

The very first thing you have to do is establish what the playing field is going to look like. Do this by specifying to the trainer what your goals and limits are.

Goals -- when you fist interview a trainer, very clearly state what your goals are. When I first met with mine, I made it clear I had one goal: to look good naked. I told him I didn't give a tinker's dam about being healthier or more flexible, or stronger than anything in particular. I made it clear that I was not working out with him to achieve any sports oriented goals. Find some pictures of some fit, scantily clad men who have the body you want and some pics of fit men whose bodies don't look like what you want. If you need to accomplish your goals within a specific time frame, tell him/her that too.

About the only thing you may want to avoid is defining your goals in terms of weight. You could very well end up weighing more or no less and be much better looking and in better shape overall. When I started, I told my trainer that I had a huge wardrobe of expensive clothes that weren't fitting any longer and that I wanted to fit in them again. I wasn't looking to become massive per se but rather cut and well defined. I was OK with gaining some size in my chest and shoulders, but simply being bigger wasn't what I was after.

Limits - Explain to him/her how your life and schedule works. I am often out of town, so I needed a trainer who could coordinate with others who were in the locales I find myself having to work regularly. Tell him what your threshold and tolerance for pain is. (When choosing a trainer in a work-town, my main requirements are that they be able to take direction from my primary trainer and that they be reasonable competent. I don't need them to be quite the professional my primary guy is.) I often have to stand at the front of a room and make presentations to executives; I can't be in so much pain that I can't move or that I'm wincing every time I do.

Explain what you are and are not willing to do. For example, I told my trainer that I would do specifically aerobic exercise, but on my own time, and not with him. If there are any exercises you just hate doing -- I can't stand skipping rope -- tell him that too. If you don't especially like working out, or if you just love something about the act of exercising, tell him that as well. If you love swimming, tell him so.

After you've explained all that, ask the trainer what program they would plan for you. When I was seeking my first trainer (the guy who is now my primary trainer), I considered four different individuals. I gave them each a day to figure out their plan and approach, and then we met again to discuss it. I asked them to explain to me what about their program was specifically designed for me as opposed to being just some generic program. The trainer I chose had come back with a year long program that was professionally presented and prepared and his offering/proposal included a timeline with milestones and the following:

An initial diagnostic test so he would learn where I was on the road toward my goals. This diagnostic included assessing my fitness level, my current/historic eating habits, my lifestyle, general health history and my BMI.

Five hours of diet training. He also explained how he intended to have me use dietary supplements at various points in the program.

- Two hours of instruction on how the body uses food, what my nutritional intake volumes and ratios should be (fat, carb, protein) and teaching me how to assess foods' nutritional value.
- Two hours in the grocery store of my choice teaching me how to read the nutrition labels on food containers and how to use that information to judge what to eat and when to eat it.
- One hour going over how to set up a diet diary and how to use it.

An overview of what he thought my initial weight training workouts would be. His initial plan called for a lot of core development and then it switched to less core and more specific body part exercises. He also explained that to maximize the pace of overall fat burn, we'd initially focus a bit more on developing the largest muscle groups as they would burn the most fat in the least amount of time. He discussed and provided examples of how he's assign various lifting exercises to develop major muscles and others to focus on the smaller, supporting muscles. He discussed how we'd start out doing whole body stuff but that we'd shift to a "body part" focus for most days' routines. He explained how my routines would be designed to create a cut body rather than a massive one, but he pointed out I was going to get bigger and that though he'd make it take as long as he reasonable could, my suit jackets and shirts would eventually stop fitting. He explained that in order to make the workouts fun and interesting for me, some of the strength training routines would focus on routines that use plyometrics, my own body weight and gravity, or his and my strength/weight in opposition, as well as the more traditional lifting iron. Lastly he spent a good amount of time explaining how the program he'd craft for me would be executed to do as much as possible to keep me from injuring myself and to minimize the soreness from exercising.

Samples of the forms he'd use to document my progress and exercises I was doing.

A list of references I could contact as well as some dated before, during and after photos of some of his current and former clients who were similar to me in terms of body type, goals and lifestyle.

A CV detailing his education, accomplishments and certifications. The guy I use has a master's degree in kinesiology and was a college gymnast. He also is certified by the NASM and NETA. (I don't know if those two groups are the same as being board certified as a doctor or passing the bar or being a CPA/CMA, but it's something to look for at least.)

My trainer and I began working out together five days a week and I did my aerobics -- mostly treadmill running -- on my own for 30 minutes a day seven days a week. Every other month, we reviewed my progress and discussed how the workouts would change, what, if anything I should change in my aerobic routines, and how my diet should change, if at all. This continued through the first year. We still workout together; it's been nearly eight years now. I've very pleased with his methods and we have become friends.

My results are exactly what I want and I've never injured myself during my training routines. I was never an athletic person per se. I can remember my first time doing shoulder presses. My muscles were so spent after just one set with weights that I had to do the remaining two sets just trying -- and trying very hard on only just barely succeeding -- to do them with no weight. When I started working out, I could barely do one pull-ups/chin-up in good form. Now I can do over 200 of them with varying grips. I can do over 200 of those push ups with varying grips, hand-hops and whatnot. I can do over a hundred of upside down, suspended crunches. And the crazy thing is you don't really realize you've just done that many reps. You do 20 or 25 of them them this way. Rest for a few seconds, then do another set of 25 that way, and then next thing you know, there you are; you've done 200 push ups or pull ups or whatever. I remember the first time I did 100 push ups. The trainer asked me do you know you just did 100 push ups? At that point, I that was still something that I just had no idea I could or would ever do.

You'll recall I told my trainer I had no specific strength goals; I only wanted to achieve a certain look. Yet strength has become something I now really possess. The things I can do physically now just amaze me. These days, I certainly have the look I want, but now I define my goals in terms of things I want to be able to accomplish physically. If you've ever seen the intro to that Arrow TV show, you'll see that guy doing a thing where the holds a bar and ascends between a pair of parallel verticals having hooks on them to hold the bar. I told my trainer that I saw them on that show and I wanted to be able to do a few of them. We went through a variety of coordination and preparation exercises for several sessions over a few weeks (remember I work with my trainer five days a week) so I could learn how to control my body to do them and so I wouldn't hurt myself trying. I can now do a dozen of them! (I was blown away the first time I did one of them.)

I am just offering these things as examples of what kind of progress one can make if you find a good trainer. I shared that also just to point out one other way in which you may want to define your goals because the goal definition will have more to do with how your progress happens than anything else, if your trainer is any good at all. So sit down and take some time to really figure out how you want to express your objectives.

The only time we had any issue was the second time he had me jumping rope. The first time he did it, I told him I really hated jumping rope and that I didn't want to do it again. The second time, I told him figure something out because I wasn't doing it and that if he came with one more workout plan that included it he was fired. He got the message. A few times a couple or more years later, he did call me in the evening as he was planning to say that he wanted to do this or that routine and that jumping rope was really the best way to do some part of it. After he explained how it was going to fit in and what I was going to have to do as went the rope jumping, I agreed to go along with it on two of those occasions because it was only for three minutes.

I related that anecdote to point out how important it is that you and your trainer understand each other and communicate effectively. The trainer must understand that you are the client and that you expect him/her to lead you through a process, but that you are ultimately the one in control of the relationship and the progress. If you get one of these trainers who wants you to become his/her vision of fit, you won't be happy. If you get someone who's spent tons of time training football players, s/he may not be the right one for you if they cannot adapt to the fact that your needs and those of a football player are different.

In closing, I'd suggest also that you look for a trainer who demonstrates that s/he understands your personality. My primary guy really listened to me when I explained to him my lifestyle and he was the only one who came back with a proposal that was tailored to me. Not only the program itself, but also the way in which he presented it to me. I could tell that he had paid attention to my words and to me, as a person. Even though all the candidates knew I was offering a long term relationship worth $20K/year, he was the only one who seemed to really connect with me on all levels. He made me feel fully confident that he knew what he was doing and that my interest was his main focus.

BTW, at the time I hired him, he wasn't the most expensive of the ones I was considering; he was cheaper than the most expensive by $20/hour and $10/hour more expensive than the cheapest. If you can, don't judge on price alone.

Good luck and all the best.

EDIT:
About me: 54 years old; 6 feet tall; 195 lbs; size 31 trousers; size 44 jacket; body looks like that Stonebridge character on Strike Back.
The two downsides to having spent all this time working out:
- It's hard to by suits off the rack
- It's not cheap.
The upsides to having spent all this time working out:
- Women -- all ages -- are nuts about a middle aged guy who looks f*cking amazing.
- it's great for bedroom sports, both for "stamina" and for the acrobatics.
- I can give my kids and their friends a run for their money in any sport.
- Folks think you are a good deal younger; I'm told I look like a guy in his late 30s. (I don't believe that, but I would believe early to mid 40s.)

You can get the results you need on your own without forking out lots of cash for stuff you probably already know or can easily find out. Just my opinion.
What results are you trying to get to ?

I think that could be so for some folks. I know for myself, I'd never have achieved the things I have without a trainer. Hell, even though I enjoy working out with my trainer, I know that even now, I wouldn't do it if I weren't doing it with a trainer.

Also, depending on what one's goals are, one's overall fitness status, and the rate of progress one needs to achieve, it can be dangerous to just do it alone. Also, some things absolutely require another person's assistance, and that person must be someone who knows what they are doing. For more basic things, it's probably ok to just ask someone at the gym or a friend to spot for you, for example. At other times, you'll want to have a spotter who knows what they are looking for/at to know when you are about to crash and possibly injure yourself.

You can get the results you need on your own without forking out lots of cash for stuff you probably already know or can easily find out. Just my opinion.
What results are you trying to get to ?

I think that could be so for some folks. I know for myself, I'd never have achieved the things I have without a trainer. Hell, even though I enjoy working out with my trainer, I know that even now, I wouldn't do it if I weren't doing it with a trainer.

Also, depending on what one's goals are, one's overall fitness status, and the rate of progress one needs to achieve, it can be dangerous to just do it alone. Also, some things absolutely require another person's assistance, and that person must be someone who knows what they are doing. For more basic things, it's probably ok to just ask someone at the gym or a friend to spot for you, for example. At other times, you'll want to have a spotter who knows what they are looking for/at to know when you are about to crash and possibly injure yourself.

I see what your saying. Heavy weights getting bigger or powerlifting. You typically need someone to help.